Asus PadFone for Q1, 2012, will run Android ICS

Asus Chairman Jonney Shih has brought along a lot of Android goodies at AsiaD, with the PadFone being one of them. Asus has said the PadFone will finally be seen sharing retail space towards the first quarter of 2012 and would be running Android just launched Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The PadFone has been one of the most innovative concepts to have come our way ever since tablet PCs have become popular, what with a unique design that includes both a tablet device as well as a smartphone. Also, now that Android Ice Cream Sandwwich has become official, it makes sense for the PadFone to run ICS as this would save Asus engineers from having to match two devices — a tablet and a smartphone — intertwined with each other but running different versions of Android OS. A previous build of the PadFone included Android Honeycomb for the tablet part while the smartphone ran on Android Gingerbread.

In any case, its one of those devices for which perhaps you won’t mind holding on to your breath. It will be really interesting to see how the PadFone, with a tablet and a smartphone works in unison or individually. Of course the design is important too as a sturdy case is what is needed for the last thing we would like to see is the smartphone case coming off after repeated usage. But then, Asus has been in the business long enough to be well aware of these aspects. ‘

So for now, the waiting game starts though what is almost a surety is that a working version of the PadFone in full Ice Cream Sandwich glory will be there for public consumption at the upcoming CES.

Sovan Mandal is the senior tablet and tech corespondent for goodereader.com. He brings a international approach to news that is not just applicable to the North American market, but also Asia, India, Europe and others. Sovy brings his own writing flavor to the website and is interested in Science Fiction, Technology and Writing. Any questions, send an email